Album Review: In The Woods… – Diversum (Soulseller Records)

Norwegian metal icons In the Woods… have signed with Soulseller Records and will release new album Diversum on November 25th, 2022. The album will be available on digital, CD, and various limited edition vinyl formats.

Long term fans of In the Woods… rest easy. This new album is everything you love. Diverse, unusual, avant-garde and progressive black metal as only this band is capable of. Yet, it’s also forward momentum for the group. Especially as it features new vocalist Bernt Fjellestad. Who fits into the mold so well, it’s like he has always been here.

Dramatic and poignant, the dark and sour sound of The Coward’s Way is a strong opening track as it immediately transports the listener into the gloom that Into the Woods… inhabit. Beautiful and blackened misery continuing into Moments, where the guitars get chunkier and the vocals tell a thought-provoking story.

Followed then by the elaborate chill and isolation of We Sinful Converge, the epic and dangerous soundscape of The Malevolent God, and the doomy, dark and uncomfortable drawl of A Wonderful Crisis. In the Woods… not so much as reveling in the misery as they are purveyors of the message. After so many years, they continue to craft dramatic music that is neither one thing or the other. Genre-bending? No, In the Woods… belong in a genre of their own.

It’s a consistently captivating experience. With heavy riffing and erratic atmosphere as portrayed on Humanity and the resounding impact the melody of Master of None makes, there’s no getting distracted by the world Diversum takes you to. Even as it comes to an end with the distressing gloom of Your Dark. In the Woods… and their epic and avant-garde style making it so much more palatable.

Diversum is the next stage of In the Woods… and throughout, they honour the past while looking towards the future. The legendary band continues to prove just why they are so important.

Links

Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Soulseller Records